17 marinas proposed along Intracoastal Waterway

Originally Published by www.baldwincountynow.com

Link to Story: http://www.baldwincountynow.com/articles/2009/03/30/local_news/doc49ccfd768501d189506909.txt'


Public meeting draws small crowd; not too late to submit input

By Katie Miller
(Created: Sunday, March 29, 2009 12:05 PM CDT) More Local News


GULF SHORES, Ala. — Few residents turned up Tuesday night for a public meeting concerning a chunk of developments proposed to be built along the Intracoastal Waterway.


Along the canal from Oyster Bay in Gulf Shores to Wolf Bay in Orange Beach, there soon could be a line of condominiums, marinas and restaurants filling what is now untouched plots.

The cities of Gulf Shores and Orange Beach along with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers held an open house to inform residents of the possible future of Pleasure Island.

Citizens were given the opportunity to view an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) which was prepared to explain the affect of adding 17 marinas to the Foley Land Cut Portion of the canal. Of those 17 marinas, 15 are proposed for Gulf Shores and two are projected for Orange Beach. This could result in 3,093 wet and dry boat slips.

“We support it, we put the (marine) zoning in place several years ago,” Gulf Shores Councilman Philip Harris said. “The city is supporting this kind of project.”

When 10 developers applied for their proposed projects, the Corps decided to wrap them into one big assessment. The cities of Gulf Shores and Orange Beach agreed to act as “facilitators” and allowed the developers to unify to apply for a permit from the Corps, according to Harris.

“The applicants are funding everything, the city hasn’t got any committed dollars in this process,” Harris said.

As part of the permit process an impact study was conducted. Those results were on display Tuesday night. The study looked at issues like safety, waterway capacity and environmental affects.

Bi-partisan company, TetraTech, was hired by the Corps to conduct the study and their findings appear to fit what the developers need, Gulf Shores resident Tom Moore pointed out.

“There’s a chart that talks about how many boat slips they want to build,” Moore said at the meeting. “The maximum number of boat slips, as an alternative, magically is 3,093. The minimum number of boat slips is the same number done over five years. There’s no difference between the maximum and the minimum. To me the minimum is zero.”

A waterway capacity study was conducted to estimate how many boats could be in the canal safely and without interrupting commercial traffic.

A graph portraying the waterway capacity study showed up to 254 boats can be in the canal at one time without disrupting navigation conditions. Prior to construction of the 17 marinas there is an excess vessel capacity of 193 boats.

A summary of impacts showed issues like air quality, light pollution and noise will hardly be worsened with the addition of 17 marinas and condominiums.

Mike Moxey, team leader of the inland branch of the Corps, reiterated adding more boats to the water won’t make a drastic impact to the environment.

“It’s amazing that of a project of this caliber we are discussing environmental impacts to this small of a degree,” Moxey said.

That small degree results in almost two acres of wetlands that will be filled to be built on or excavated for the marina. He explained the Corps has the right to permit construction on wetlands, which are protected by the federal government. Moxey said for every bit of wetlands that is impacted, developers have to mitigate wetlands elsewhere, but not necessarily in Gulf Shores or Orange Beach.

President of the Little Lagoon Preservation Society, Dennis Hatfield, was unpleased with the study’s findings.

“I’m very concerned about this Environmental Impact Study not giving proper credence to subsurface geology and to protecting our ground water resources,” Hatfield said. “I’m concerned that every one of these marinas will cut through a clay layer which protects the drinking water that Gulf Shores Utilities has wells in ... they did not address that at all.”

Hatfield said the biggest issue is dredging 700,000 cubic yards out of the pristine and undeveloped Oyster Bay. The development Oyster Bay Marina is proposing 396 wet slips.

“Why are they going to allow that?” Hatfield asked. “To mitigate that somewhere else, that’s just crazy. I’m afraid they are going to destroy Oyster Bay forever.”

An overview presented to the Gulf Shores City Council listed responsibilities the city could have. Harris said the council has already adopted a resolution agreeing to these terms if the permit is issued.

The city will hire an engineering firm to engineer primary use mooring facilities, locate appropriate signage and develop and provide maps to commercial operators. The city will also implement a marine police department who will develop a boater education program.

Harris said the city will assess each applicant for the funds for these plans and grants will also be sought. The money spent by the applicants would be credited as impact fees. The city would only be financial responsible for the personnel needed to staff a marine police force, according to Harris.

The EIS can be found at Thomas B. Norton Library in Gulf Shores and the Orange Beach Public Library.

It can also be read online at tetratech-ffx.com/giwweis.

The Corps makes the final decision and project manager Linda Brown said the public’s opinion is considered.

Residents have been asked to make comments to the Corps concerning the proposal. The deadline to voice your opinion is April 12. Comments can be e-mailed to giwweis@tetratech.com. For more information write to Linda Brown, P.O. Box 2288, Mobile, AL 36628, or call 251-694-3786.